The invention relates to a plant for the continuous production of a printed textile tape, in particular a label tape.
Many plants of the type initially mentioned are known, as, for example, from EP-B 0 532 645 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,980. Particularly from the latter, it is known to print a textile tape on two sides, the plant [sic] being supplied to a first printing station for printing the first tape side and to a second printing station for printing the second tape side of the textile tape. By two printing stations being arranged, each with a printing head, the plant is relatively costly, since the printing heads also belong to the costly components of the plant, with the result that the printing of the textile tape is correspondingly costly, this being a disadvantage for mass products, such as label tapes.
The object of the invention is to improve a plant of the type initially mentioned, in such a way that a cost-effective production of printed textile tapes, in particular label tapes, is possible.
Since the plant is designed in such a way that it can print not only one tape side of the textile tape, but selectively also the second tape side of the textile tape by means of the same printing head, a highly cost-effective plant is obtained, which allows a cost-effective production of printed textile tapes, this being particularly important especially for label tapes.
It is particularly advantageous when, the printing head a check sensor which checks the print to be produced and, in the event of a fault, transmits a fault signal to the control device in order to stop the plant. Such a faulty print may occur, for example, when, in the case of an ink-jet printer, individual printer nozzles fail and therefore do not print.
The printing of the first and second tapes sides of the textile tape, although taking place in one operation, is preferably phase-shifted since, after the printing of the first tape side, the textile tape has to be supplied with the second tape side to the printing station again. In this case, the second tape side of the textile tape can be moved past the printing head in the same running direction as the first tape side or, in the opposite running direction to the first tape side. In order to implement this renewed supply of the textile tape, the plant contains a turning station which may be designed in very different ways. Thus, the turning station may have a device for turning the textile tape about a longitudinal axis of the textile tape. It is also possible to have a turning station which makes it possible to turn the textile tape about a transverse axis. For this purpose, the turning station may have a turning member arranged transversely to the running direction. An embodiment of the plant is particularly preferred, the turning station having deflecting rollers which are arranged crosswise and which allow a particularly exact orientation of the textile tape with respect to the printing station.
There are very varied possibilities for the design of the printing station, depending on which printing method is employed and whether single-color or multicolor printing is carried out. In this context, only printing machines which allow electronic data processing and operate at a correspondingly high speed come under consideration. An ink-jet printer is particularly preferred, which may be of single-color or multicolor design and in which the individual characters are composed in a mosaic-like manner from very fine jet droplets. This also makes it possible, in particular, to have a relatively small printing head which, can be designed to move back and forth transversely over the textile web [sic]. Such an ink-jet printer may be designed for the processing of water-based printing inks. An embodiment for the processing of printing inks polymerizing by UV light is more advantageous.
It is also particularly advantageous to have an embodiment of the printing station a laser printer, in which a laser beam controlled in direction in a programmed manner writes the characters onto an electrostatically precharged semiconductor photo film. The charge image which occurs is transferred with the aid of toner particles from the printing drum covered with the film onto the textile tape.
In the simplest instance, the printing station can print in one color, but an embodiment as a multicolor printer is also more advantageous.
The printing station is followed by at least one fixing station for the print. The design of the fixing station depends on the printing principle used.
In this case, it is necessary, in particular, to ensure that fixing takes place as quickly as possible and that the print is as resistant as possible. In particular, a fixing station based on UV light is suitable for polymerizing printing inks. For laser printers operating with toner, it is preferable to have an IR fixing station which delivers the necessary heat for fusing the toner particles on the textile tape. In the latter instance, it is advantageous to have an additional press station, which imprints the print into the textile tape and thus improves the bond.
It is advantageous, further, that the plant has a tape fixing station for the printed textile tape, in order to free the textile tape of stresses and smooth it.
An embodiment of the plant is particularly advantageous, whereby the printing station is followed by a coating station, in order to provide the printed textile tape with a protective layer. Such a protective layer protects the print on the textile tape against mechanical and chemical stress.
A design of the plant is particularly advantageous, making it possible to process a textile web, the width of which is preferably larger by a multiple than the width of the textile tape to be printed. Consequently, the initial material can be an efficiently produced wide textile web, from which printed textile tapes of the desired width can then be produced. Various possibilities are afforded for this purpose. A particularly advantageous embodiment of the plant which is suitable particularly for larger batches of printed textile tapes. An embodiment of the plant is particularly suitable for smaller batches, in which case the textile tape of desired width which is to be printed can be cut off from a stock roll of larger width and printed. The rest of the textile web is then supplied again to a reception device, preferably a reception roll.
The production capacity of a plant can also be further increased in that, the printing station is designed in such a way that at least two longitudinal strips can be printed on the textile tape, the printing station being followed by a longitudinal-cutting station, in order to cut the textile tape into textile tapes corresponding to the printed longitudinal strips.
To improve the quality of the printed textile tapes produced, the plant may be provided with a folding station, in order to fold the edge regions of the printed textile tape against one another and thereby place an ugly or rough cut edge away from the edge region toward the inside. The fold can be fixed permanently by means of a fixing station following the folding station.
The printed textile tape can either be rolled up or be deposited in a tangled state in a container. It is more advantageous, however, to have a design of the plant whereby there is a cross-cutting station, in order to subdivide the printed textile tape into portions. This cross-cutting station may advantageously be followed by a stacking device, in order to pick up the textile tape portions in ordered form.